Red Dwarf: Back to Earth

[Nirvana]

BBC News:

Cult comedy Red Dwarf is returning to TV, 21 years after its initial launch.

The show has been resurrected by digital channel Dave for a two-part Easter weekend special, which sees the cast finally return to Earth.

Written and directed by Red Dwarf co-creator Doug Naylor, the new show reunites the line-up, including Coronation Street's Craig Charles.

The hit show, which ran for eight series on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, won an International Emmy award.

'No holds barred'

Set three million years into the future, the show followed the exploits of Dave Lister, slovenly crew member of the mining ship Red Dwarf - and the last man in the universe.

He was joined in his weekly attempts to make it back to Earth by a cast of oddballs including human hologram Arnold Rimmer, mechanoid servant Kryten and Cat - a preening half-man, half-animal who evolved from the ship's cat.

At its peak, Red Dwarf pulled in around eight million viewers and was broadcast in more than 25 countries.

It has sold more than seven million DVDs and videos.

The new two-part series Red Dwarf: Back to Earth will be followed by a "no holds barred" episode without sets, special effects or autocue.
The weekend will climax with Red Dwarf: the Making of Back to Earth, a behind-the-scenes special from the new episodes.

[icarusfall]

[M]

I remember talk about making a Red Dwarf movie years back. I wonder if this is their compromise? Still... I am sort of excited about it... and they brought Rimmer back eh? Potential.

[Error]

I bet they land on Earth and discover everything is normal, and smeghead runs into himself on Coronation Street.

[Mr-K]

I've tried to like this show, but something keeps stopping me from enjoying it.

Maybe it's the laugh track.

[Mzo]

Have you read the books? I find that having an affinity for the characters and the premise beforehand definitely helps, and they are much, much, much better than the show (especially the first series).

The two things that almost make me hate the show are 1) the god-awful theme song and 2) that laugh track. Just cheapens the whole thing.

[YellerDog]

Man, I love that theme song.

Laugh track is fucking murder, though.

[Mzo]

I think it was more the transition from the kind of cool opening intro theme where the dude (is that Lister or some random guy?) is sprucing up the F, to that awful EXPLOSION noise, and then the frilly theme.

Once they got rid of the start and just went right to the last bit it wasn't as bad I guess.

[Mr-K]

My girlfriend's brother is a big Red Dwarf fan, and a lot of the premises and situations he's explained to me seem really funny. I like the idea of a super-huge ship with two people on it, and cats evolving into human form and such.

It's just... Meh.

[YellerDog]

It's an alright show, I don't know that it warrants any kind of alligence or anything though.

I'd rather watch the Hitchhiker's Guide movie in a second.